A US ARMY Reserve officer pleaded guilty on Friday to improperly steering millions of dollars in Iraq reconstruction contracts as part of a conspiracy involving kickbacks, smuggling and sexual favours. Lt. Col. Bruce Hopfengardner, 46, of Frederick, Virginia, was the first military office to admit taking part in the scheme to defraud the US-led occupation authority.
Hopfengardner, who had been a police chief in California, served as an adviser to the Coalition Provisional Authority. His duties included recommending spending for law enforcement projects related to rebuilding Iraq, including a police academy in the south-central city of Al-Hillal, the government said in court papers.
Prosecutors said he and others plotted to steer millions of dollars to Philip Bloom, a US citizen with businesses in Romania and post war Iraq. In exchange, they received money, plane tickets, jewellery, alcohol, cigars and sexual favours from women provided by Bloom at his villa in Baghdad and at least one other place, the government said.
Robert Stein, a former US Defence Department contract employee, pleaded guilty on February 5 to related charges. He controlled the spending of about $82 million in CPA funds reserved for reconstruction projects in south-central Iraq.
http://www.gg2.net/viewnews.asp?nid=3462&tid=countryNews&catid=UK%20News
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